Explore The Caribbean Under Sail With Lindblad

For well-travelled cruisers who want to discover the Caribbean by sea, there is not a ship afloat that can match the Sea Cloud’s ambience, illustrious history or the experience she offers. New for 2013, Lindblad Expeditions will introduce three 7-night departures through the Lesser Antilles on this legendary vessel, on February 28 and March 7 and 14.

The world’s most elegant square-rigged tall ship carries just 58 guests. The Sea Cloud flies 30 sails, hoisted the old-fashioned way - by hand - and offers an incomparable mix of sophistication, fine service and informality, the epitome of barefoot elegance. The week-long voyages will explore the “Nature Island” of Dominica, the French-infused cultures of Iles des Saintes, the renowned landscapes of St Lucia, and the idyllic Grenadines.

As the Sea Cloud visits colonial towns, historic forts and botanical gardens, guests will discover a surprising mosaic of French, Dutch, English and Spanish, who all left an indelible imprint on the historic culture and architecture. For those interested in the undersea, there will be several opportunities to learn about reef ecology and to snorkel among colourful corals and tropical fish in the marine reserve of the Tobago Cays and the idyllic Grenadines.

During the voyage, Lindblad and National Geographic’s exemplary staff will illuminate and navigate these cultures, both historic and contemporary, through the expertise of veteran expedition leader Tom O’Brien, naturalist Albert Montaudon (a biologist by training, conservationist by passion and a Lindblad-National Geographic certified photo instructor) and historian Thomas Heffernan, an expert on Caribbean history and languages. Also joining on the March 14 voyage is Kenny Broad, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and  environmental anthropologist who dives in some of the world’s most challenging underwater caves on scientific missions.

Guests embark and disembark the Sea Cloud in Barbados. Rates begin at $6,990 per person based on double occupancy in a category 1 cabin.

For bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's leading adventure-cruise experts.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

Try Moorish Heritage With Sea Cloud II

For pure spectacle, it doesn’t come much more eye-catching and, indeed, genuinely original than Sea Cloud Cruises’ fleet of luxury tall ships. And Sea Cloud II is featuring a great-value 8-day “Moorish Heritage” cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona calling at cultural cities such as Seville, Granada and Valencia from just £1,596.

The voyage departs from the Portuguese capital on May 4 and also calls at Portimao on the Algarve and Motril in Southern Spain (for access to Granada and Seville), as well as Palma de Mallorca.

Some say this is a more intellectual cruise as the trips revolve around pleasant social gatherings with a casual and relaxed informal lifestyle of the 64 guests on board. But what you really have here is customised travel at the luxury level which has been consistently refined over the years.

For more information, visit http://www.seacloud.com/ or check with the luxury and adventure-cruise specialists of The Cruise Line.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

Looking Ahead

By World of Cruising editor Simon Veness

New year, new perspective. That's what cruising gives us every year, and 2011 promises to be no exception.

We had such a wide range of new ships in 2010 - from the chic boutique vessels of Le Ponant and Seabourn to the massive leviathans of Royal Caribbean and NCL - that the follow-up is likely to be more narrow-focused.

There WILL be some big new vessels - the Disney Dream (above) later this month and 130,000-ton Carnival Magic foremost among them - but there will be more accent on the luxury end of the market, with new tonnage from Oceania Cruises (the Marina later in January), Ponant Cruises (sister ship L'Austral), Seabourn (the third Odyssey-class vessel, Seabourn Quest), Celebrity Cruises (their fourth Solstice-class ship, Celebrity Silhouette) and sail-cruise specialist Sea Cloud (the all-new Sea Cloud Hussar).

We will obviously be looking forward to all of them - and bring full reveiews of each in due course - but we will be taking particular note of the new Disney vessel, the Marina, Seabourn Quest and Celebrity Silhouette as we continue our trend for highlighting the very best of the cruise world.

Having also become the leading publication for adventure cruising and expedition-style voyaging, we are sure to have some more fantastic ideas and features that take you to the more far-flung outposts of the world - notably Antarctica, the Arctic north, Tahiti and French Polynesia, Costa Rica and Vietnam, all of which represent beguiling travel opportunities.

I will be intrigued to see what kind of new features Disney's 'Imagineers' have come up with; how Oceania increase the scale but maintain the style with their first new-build; if Seabourn can continue to set the mark for the six-star market; and whether Celebrity can continue the march of their impressive Solstice class.

It all adds up to a mouth-watering prospect for the next 12 months - just make sure you follow it all with us!

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.